Pages

Wednesday, 2 September 2009

Free access to Scottish 1901 Census

From the BBC...

BBCWho Do You Think You Are? Magazine has secured a fantastic deal with Ancestry.co.uk to bring every reader free access to the entire 1901 census for Scotland.

The special web link can be found on the CD-ROM which accompanies the Autumn 2009 issue of BBC Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine, and this fantastic offer is valid for a month (ending 10 October 2009).

The Autumn 2009 issue also features an interview with the comedian David Mitchell, in which he discusses the search for his Scottish ancestors on Who Do You Think You Are?, along with a guide to using the Scottish estate records that helped him. Plus there are features on how to research Land Girls in your family, how to make sense of RAF records, and what life was like for British railway workers.

The Autumn 2009 issue of BBC Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine is on sale now priced £4.25.

Yeah, I realised that, it's just that when I first read "free access to the entire 1901 census," I took that to mean access to the actual scans (very useful) then I saw Ancestry mentioned (I already have a subscription) and realised it will just be their less-than-perfect transcriptions. They are okay for checking "possibles" out but you really need to see the proper scans IMO. The Ancestry transcriptions were done by a Chinese company so I've heard. One of my ancestor's lodgers is described as a "carnage driver" instead of carriage driver ;-)

It is always desirable to see the original records no matter what the collection or where it is found. The reason Ancestry has only the transcriptions is because GROS will not license the images out.

All sites have transcription errors, and you're not alone with an Ancestry error - I have a linen weaver noted as a 'somam weaver'...! But I teach a Scottish course and have just shown the students an example where both FreeCEN and Ancestry have a record which SP has not even indexed, never mind created a transcription error for. FreeCEN got it exactly right, Ancestry had one transcription error (a letter 'y' written as a 'g'), but SP had absolutely nothing at all. All the sites have their uses, and all of them have their imperfections!

For those without an Ancestry subscription, I'm sure this will be a welcome offer - if only to confirm that a record exists and is worth paying £1.20 for on SP to see the original. It can only be a good thing - warts and all!